In Pine Ridge, the land is beautiful. But, it is a stark and desolate beauty. There are problems with housing, health care, poverty, unemployment, broken homes, neglect, abuse, alcohol, drugs, gangs and much more. A recent survey of school children revealed that not only did a majority of these children see no future or hope for a future on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, this sentiment was nearly unanimous.

Unfortunately, it is all too easy to see this hopelessness. It is in the palpable oppression felt as you enter the reservation. It is in the voices of the artists trying to sell you beadwork. It is in the eyes of people walking warily down the street. I saw it in an elementary school boy who lost an uncle to a car accident while we were out last year as he explained that the 1-year memorial give away was being postponed because his 17-year-old cousin was just killed. I saw it in Betty O'Rourke, owner of Bette's Kitchen and the great granddaughter of Black Elk as she recounted the deaths of her two sons, one by murder, the other by heart attack after a fall on the ice. I saw it in a teacher's face as she explained how nothing could be done to help 9 and 10-year-old sisters who were neglected and abused because the abuser is a prominent judge. And, it goes on. On Pine Ridge everyone has a story. Tragedy is universal, continual and a way of life.

But - if you look, there is hope and I believe there is a future. To paraphrase Pastor Steve Anderson's devotional booklet, we did not pack God in the van with us to bring Him to the Lakota people. He is already there. He is already there and He has been - long before our church began trekking out there.

And, it's true. He is there. You can see Him in the vastness of the land, the beauty of the sky and the smiles of the people we work with. I saw God as a cognitively impaired man who has made friends with our teams over the years, explained how he has become a Christian and how everyday he reads a Bible given to him by a team member last year. We saw God working in the heart of a groundskeeper as he questioned a team member about denominational differences, shared his faith journey and explained how important it was for him to publicly re-dedicate his life to Christ. I saw hope in the eyes of a teacher who told me about a little girl who brought a book a team member gave her last year into school every Friday for show and tell - all year long. I saw God in the curiosity of the children we tutored as they shared native spirituality and customs and asked questions about my faith and beliefs. I saw God in the excitement, openness and empathy of the children on the team as they struggled to understand a world completely alien and in comprehensible to most of us in Minnesota suburbia. I saw God in the relationships formed, the friendships strengthened and the conversations deepened between Pine Ridge team members.

God is not just with us church people in the white vans. He is not just with those Native Americans who have "Got Jesus." He is not just with those people struggling and searching to understand God's grace and mercy. He is there on Pine Ridge. He is with all the Lakota people waiting and working for them to see Him, to enter into a relationship with Him and to accept His love's promise for a future and a hope.

A Native American man once told me he had no problem with Christ - it was Christians he had an issue with. And, unfortunately, many terrible things have been done to Native Americans by some people who have called themselves Christians. The teacher I worked with this year, told me how her mother had been forcibly removed from her home and placed in a Christian boarding school where her Indian name, language and culture were deemed sinful, where she was forced to kneel on rice as she prayed, where she was beaten and starved for running away, for trying to get back to her family. She told me about how, growing up, she heard only of God's judgment and how she decided as a teen that if she was already going to hell, she was going to have fun getting there. She told me how she recently came into a relationship with Christ as she realized His grace and forgiveness. She also told me she appreciated our involvement on the Rez. She appreciated us coming out and showing God's love, mercy and grace to a people who have only been shown His judgment and wrath.

I would encourage every one of you to prayerfully consider whether God is calling you to become involved as a Pine Ridge team member or on a different level. Without your donations, meals, prayers, encouragement and financial support, this work could not continue.

Pilyamyan WakanTonka Kici Un

Thank You and God Bless You.